Two Japanese Men Caught at Swiss Border With $134.5 Billion in U.S. Bonds

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=15456&size=A ^

[PacificDiver]

Milan (AsiaNews) – Italy’s financial police (Guardia italiana di Finanza) has seized US bonds worth US 134.5 billion from two Japanese nationals at Chiasso (40 km from Milan) on the border between Italy and Switzerland. They include 249 US Federal Reserve bonds worth US$ 500 million each, plus ten Kennedy bonds and other US government securities worth a billion dollar each. Italian authorities have not yet determined whether they are real or fake, but if they are real the attempt to take them into Switzerland would be the largest financial smuggling operation in history; if they are fake, the matter would be even more mind-boggling because the quality of the counterfeit work is such that the fake bonds are undistinguishable from the real ones.

What caught the policemen’s attention were the billion dollar securities. Such a large denomination is not available in regular financial and banking markets. Only states handle such amounts of money.

The question now is who could or would counterfeit or smuggle these non-negotiable bonds.

In order to stop money laundering Italian law sets a ceiling of 10,000 euros per person for importing or exporting money without declaring it. The penalty for violating the law is 40 per cent of the money seized.

If the certificates were real, for Italy it would be like hitting the jackpot. The fine alone would amount to US$ 38 billion, five times the estimated cost of rebuilding quake-devastated Abruzzi region. It would help Italy’s eliminate its public deficit.

If the certificates are fakes the two Japanese nationals could get a very lengthy jail sentence for fraud.

As soon as the seizure was made the US Embassy in Rome was informed. Italian and US secret services were called in to assist the Italian financial police.

Some important international financial newspapers had already reported on the existence of ‘funny money’ circulating on parallel, i.e. unofficial, financial markets.

For AsiaNews a few points need considering:

When it comes to Italy the world press has tended to focus on Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi’s personal problems rather than on stories like the bonds smuggling affair which has been front page on Italian newspapers.

The fear of counterfeit bonds and securities has spread across Asia with the result that real securities are also considered with suspicion.

During the Second World War several countries at war printed and put in circulation perfectly counterfeit enemy money. It is also historically established that some central banks, like the Bank of Italy 65 years ago, issued the same securities twice (identical registered number and code). This way they could print more money with legal tender than they officially declared. The main difference though is that 65 years ago the world was involved in a bloody war, which is not the case today.

[PacificDiver]

If these were in fact genuine treasury bonds I would suspect that this money belongs to a government, possibly the Japanese government, given the size of the seizure. I would also suspect that these two men worked for the Japanese government, or a large Japanese Bank representing the government. Furthermore I would suspect that they were doing this for the Japanese government, which wanted the sale of these bonds to be private. I don't think the Japanese government wants to go on record as selling U.S. bonds because it would depress the U.S. bond market and cause losses in their remaining holdings. I'm sure they wanted these bonds to be quietly sold, over time, without making any waves on the bond market.

[G Larry]

With the Trillions BO is printing who’s gonna notice anyway?

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I read at another site that the Japanese government has been tangentially linked to this.

Watch for this to be THE most under-reported story of the month.

If it is true and if the Japanese government is behind this, they were trying to dump the bonds in a trade for something else (probably at a loss), such as gold or Euros.

Either way, it says that Japan knows that those things are about to become worthless. And I don't mean over the course of a year and with the affects of inflation, but more like something big is about to happen internationally.

[ModelBreaker]

“I would also suspect that these two men worked for the Japanese government, or a large Japanese Bank representing the government.”

Not credible. If a government wanted to smuggle bonds into Switzerland, they would use a diplomatic pouch. Make the swap in-country. Little risk.

These are either forgers or representatives of, well, folks that make their money on or beyond the margins of legality. It could be TARP money that has disappeared. It could be Madoff money. It could be NK printed forgeries (they are big in that business). But it ain’t money legally acquired by a government.

I’m not counting on a long life for either of the couriers.

[thecodont]

If these were in fact genuine treasury bonds I would suspect that this money belongs to a government, possibly the Japanese government, given the size of the seizure. I would also suspect that these two men worked for the Japanese government, or a large Japanese Bank representing the government. Furthermore I would suspect that they were doing this for the Japanese government, which wanted the sale of these bonds to be private. I don't think the Japanese government wants to go on record as selling U.S. bonds because it would depress the U.S. bond market and cause losses in their remaining holdings.

Nothing in the U.S. papers about this, not yet. If the Japanese gov't is behind this, I am very concerned.

[Travis McGee]

Smoke-——fire.

[Cowboy Bob]

...plus ten Kennedy bonds

I'm not surprised that some of the Kennedys had to post bond...but 10! :0)

[Bean Counter]

What the hell...??

This is something straight out of a Pink Panther movie by the sound of it, except that the implications are no comedy. By all means please keep up with this story, and a focused pinglist for this particular subject is certainly indicated...

Please include me....

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Here's the link to where I read about it:
http://newsusa.myfeedportal.com/viewarticle.php?articleid=346

Not sure how reliable it is. But if this is true:

“For some the resignation of Japan’s Interior minister might be related to it.”

Then it would indeed be a very serious situation. A government would do this for a few reasons that I can think of:
1. They got wind that something in the country they've invested in is about to go seriously wrong (destroyed economy). If it were what we've been fearing, Japan wouldn't go through this PR risk. They'd sell them off gradually or exchange them for commodities gradually.
2. They need to gold or other commodities because they are planning an attack or counter on NK and they suspect China will come to NK’s aid against Japan, which sets the stage (potentially) for WWIII, with Russia helping China.
3. Their economy is about to implode for some reason and they want something more stable than US dollars.
4. They were purchasing something they didn't want anyone to know about. They claim to be non-nuke, but I doubt that they are (that is, I suspect they are nuke-equipped). If they are not, however, they could have been trying to buy some key components to get up to speed fast (again, fearing NK and China and wanting some way to defend themselves).

Just thoughts and ONLY MHO.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Here’s the source article, by the way:

http://www.asianews.it/index.php?l=en&art=15505

[thecodont]

Thirdly, how the seizure took place is worthy of a Monty Python movie—two well-dressed Japanese men carrying a briefcase travelling in a local train usually used by Italian manual labourers who commute to Switzerland for work had as much chance to go unobserved as two European businessmen travelling in the Congo.

Perhaps if they had instead dressed as Italian manual laborers...

[Talisker]

What caught the policemen’s attention were the billion dollar securities.

That would do it.

[justa-hairyape]

Possibly related. See video at link.
Peter Schiff Video Blog - Japanese have "unshakable confidence"

[narses]

No - governments use diplomatic bags to smuggle stuff. This is a North Korean counterfeit operation.

[justa-hairyape]

Who could fake these bonds ? The US government knows who the original buyers were. I would assume that anyone making the purchase would ask for verification from the US government.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

The issuance of the bonds can be traced. If it were TARP money, it would be fairly evident.

How would it make sense to convert Madoff-type money into Bonds rather than other currencies or gold? It puts an extra step in the process that could foil the plan.

Also, the amount itself is very suspicious. Forgers would be fools to forge such a high amount, which is only realistically purchased by nations, not firms or individuals.

I'm not saying I know what the situation is, but something is very strange here.

[SR71A]

This whole thing doesn't pass the smell test. Why would a government take the risk of smuggling $134 billion dollars over a international border, especially the Swiss/Italian border, which is known to have especially tight lookouts set for "capital flight" from Italy to Switzerland? For that matter, why would any halfway savvy individual do it?

If anything, it's a con job designed to upset the Treasury auction procedures.

[9YearLurker]

Or, could it not be impending doom-based, but simply that the Japanese suspect great enough coming devaluation of the US dollar and US bond values that they want to sell, sell, sell—but not to so anger their greatest military protector and economic market?

[9YearLurker]

Interesting, I suspect a con job—but am not so sure that it’s all for messing with the bond markets.

[Diggity]

Why would they smuggle fake bonds? They could just FedEx them because they could be duplicated if lost.